The dissertation award was renamed in honour of George Geis, a respected colleague, scholar, and long-standing member of the CSSHE who passed away in October 1998. A fund has since been created in his name with donations from friends and colleagues for the purpose of supporting the recipient of this award to travel to the annual meeting of the CSSHE.
To make a tax deductible contribution, please send your cheque to:
The Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education
260 Dalhousie Street
Suite 305
OTTAWA ON K1N 7E4
CSSHE is sponsoring an award for the outstanding dissertation or thesis in Canadian universities that examines higher topics. Dissertations and theses should focus on topics in higher education, including the sociopolitical context, access, governance, teaching and learning, institutional studies, and education and employment.
| Criteria | The overall criterion for selection is research excellence. We are looking for dissertations or theses of clear distinction. Specifically, the submissions will be examined for significance, substance, and distinctiveness. The dissertation should demonstrate scholarly excellence, and a contribution to the field of higher education. |
| Eligibility | Dissertations and theses must have been completed in fullfilment of a Ph.D. or Ed.D. requirement at a Canadian university during the calendar year prior to the award. The candidate must have passed the final examination and the supervisory committee must have accepted the dissertation by the time nomination is submitted. |
| Nature of the Award | The recipient will be invite to present a paper on the dissertation or thesis during the annual conference and will be presented with a Certificate of Merit as well as a complimentary CSSHE membership for one year. |
| Submissions |
Faculty members who are advisors are invited to submit a maximum of two nominations. Each submission must include the following:
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| Deadline | E-mail the submissions no later than December 31 of each year to:
Cam Smith, CSSHE Secretariat |
Past Recipients | Anciens laureats et anciennes laureates
| 2025 | Lyn Trudeau, Brock University |
Inner/Spirit Fire and Indigenous Student/Researcher Identity: Differing Spaces from an Ojibway Perspective |
| 2024 | Issac Garcia-Sitton, York University |
Policy Making in Times of Crisis: The Case of Immigration and International Students in Canada During the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| 2023 | Alison Elizabeth Jefferson, OISE | University of Toronto |
The new normal? The practice of doctoral education in a global pandemic |
| 2022 | Candace Brunette-Debassige, Western University | The trickiness of settler colonialism: Indigenous women administrators’ experiences in Canadian universities |
| 2021 | Diane Barbarie, OISE | University of Toronto |
The politics behind and the value of outbound student mobility: Is Canada missing the boat? |
| 2020 | Amira El Masri, York University |
International education as policy: A discourse coalition framework analysis of the construction, context, and empowerment of Ontario’s international education storylines |
| 2019 | Kimberly Browning, University of Manitoba |
Faculty perceptions of prior learning assessment and recognition: A university case study |
| 2018 | Jennifer Brant, Brock University |
Journeying toward a praxis of Indigenous maternal pedagogy: Lessons from our sweetgrass baskets |
| 2017 | Olivier Begin-Caouette, University of Toronto |
Small mighty centers in the global academic capitalist race: A study of systemic factors contributing to scientific capital accumulation in Nordic higher education systems |
| 2016 | Christine Arnold, University of Toronto |
Transfer literacy: Assessing informational symmetries and asymmetries |
| 2015 | Leslie Wardley, Laurentian University |
The current university focus: An emphasis on providing customer services over engagement |
| 2015 | Deanna Rexe, Simon Fraser University |
The political economy of tuition policy formation in Canada |
| 2014 | Kyra Garson, Simon Fraser University |
Are we graduating global citizens? A mixed method study investigating students’ intercultural development and perceptions of intercultural and global learning in academic settings |
| 2013 | Isabeau Iqbal, University of British Columbia |
Faculty Members’ Professional Growth in Teaching Through the Summative Peer Review of Teaching and other Departmental Practices |
| 2012 | Catherine Larouche, Université Laval |
La validation d’une typologie des conceptions des universites en vue d’evaluer leur performance |
| 2011 | Mia Quint-Rapoport, University of Toronto |
Open Source in Higher Education: A Situational Analysis of the Open Journal System |
| 2010 | Lydia Boyko, University of Toronto |
An Examination of Academic Department Chairs in Canadian Universities |
| 2009 | Valerie Lopes, University of Toronto |
The efficacy of a course management system in learning |
| 2008 | Not Awarded | |
| 2007 | Pierre Canisius Kamanzi, Universite Laval |
Influence du capital humain et du capital social sur les caracteristiques de l’emploi chez les diplomes postsecondaires au Canada |
| 2006 | Theophile Maganga, Universite Laval |
Management et gouvernance des universites en Afrique : points de vue des acteurs a propos des modes de fonctionnement de l’Universite Omar Bongo et de l’Universite des sciences de la sante au Gabon |
| 2005 | Rachel Langford, University of Toronto |
Discourse of the good early childhood educator in professional training: Reproducing marginality or working toward social change. |
| 2004 | Veryl Tipliski, University of Manitoba |
Parting at the crossroads: The development of education for psychiatric nursing in three Canadian provinces, 1909-1955. |
| 2003 | Cindy Ives, Concordia University |
Designing and developing an educational systems design model for technology integration in universities. |
| 2002 | Garnet Grosjean, University of British Columbia |
“Doing co-op”: Student preceptions of learning and working. |
| 2001 | Arshad Ahmad, Concordia University |
The Integrated Learning Model: A design experiment in web-based instruction. |
| 2000 | Not awarded | |
| 1999 | David Sheridan, OISE/University of Toronto |
An analysis of strategic planning practices at Ontario College of Applied Arts and Technology. |
| 1998 | Diana M. Royce, University of Toronto |
University system coordination and planning in Ontario: 1945 to 1996. |
| 1997 | Emily Etcheverry, University of Manitoba |
Social capital: A resource for the human capital development of university students. |
| 1996 | Frank Hechter, University of Manitoba |
Influences on the academic achievement of undergraduate dental students |
| 1995 | David Mandzuk, University of Manitoba |
Institutional, individual and social psychological influences on the development of student teachers’ professional identities: A status attainment approach. |
| 1994 | Nancy Marie Arthur, University of Calgary |
Demands and coping strategies of post-secondary students. |
| 1993 | Lesley Andres, University of British Columbia |
Paths of life’s way: Destinations, determinants, and decisions in the transition from high school. |
| 1992 | Barbara L. Paterson, University of Manitoba |
The juggling act: An ethnographic analysis of clinical teaching in nursing. |
| 1991 | Dianne Bateman, McGill University |
A longitudinal study of the cognitive and affective development of CEGEP students. |
| 1990 | Jamie-Lynn Magnusson, University of Manitoba |
Person-behaviour beliefs, behaviour-outcome beliefs, and students’ use of academic resources: The effects of teaching in the university setting. |
| 1989 | Don Tunstall, University of Alberta |
Emerging programme issues in BC colleges. |
| 1988 | Real Samson, Dalhousie University |
The efficiency, effectiveness and job satisfaction of selected university presidents as perceived by the university community. |
| 1987 (tied) | Paula Brook, University of British Columbia |
Occupational socialization for women in postsecondary career preparation programs. |
| 1987 (tied) | William Glanville, University of Alberta |
A comparative analysis of the relationship between governance structure and policy setting in technical institutes. |
| 1986/85 | Gisele Thibault, Dalhousie University |
The dissenting feminist academy: A history of the barriers to feminist scholarship. |
| 1984 | Jenniece Larsen, University of Alberta |
A psychological study of the career development of selected nurses with earned doctoral degrees. |